1. IntroductionThe impact of digita

1. IntroductionThe impact of digitalization on business processes has encouraged the transformation markets into complex networks based on unrepeatable processes of value co-creation that can give birth to new or improved products, services, and relational modalities [1]. Due to the connection between interactions, value co-creation, and the generation of innovation [2], service research proposes the adoption of a transcending view that explores the effect of technology and ICTs (information and communication technologies) on service improvement and on new service development [3,4]. In particular, by introducing the concept of service ecosystems, service- dominant logic (S-D logic, [5–7]) embraces a systems perspective that understands service as the glue of resource integration among engaged actors that, through a series of ICT-enabled interactions, can lead to value co-creation and innovation. Therefore, extant research progressively advances the need to analyze how technology-mediated exchanges can lead to value co-creation [8], well-being enhancement [9,10], and innovation [11,12] that can produce sustainability in the long run [13,14].However, the evolving and emergent nature of service exchanges increases the complexity and uncertainty in the harmonization and management of value co-creation, which becomes more and more unpredictable. The necessity of a strategic management of technology (as one of the main dimensions of ecosystems) is a “new” topic expressed in the latest contributions from service and service innovation literature (mostly in service-dominant logic research), which involves the introduction of a research agenda [15,16] to be addressed. Moreover, it seems that the key drivers leading to innovation through value co-creation are not explored sufficiently in extant research. In a co-creation-based view, processes of (co-)innovation [17] that foster the constant renewal of knowledge should be managed to handle the constant emergence of new value [18]. For this reason, the work advances a strategic framework that defines the drivers toward managing co-created innovation from the early stages of delivery and throughout the different contexts in which actors are embedded (micro, meso, and macro [3,19]). The aim is to explore how management can foster the continuous generation of new knowledge and co-creation of value through ICT-enabled interactions that can lead to service improvement and innovation [12,20]. A synthesis “meta”-perspective is introduced to investigate the emergence of economic (micro), social (meso), and environmental (macro) values toward the development of sustainability. By proposing a strategic conceptualization of value co-creation, the current work lays the theoretical foundations for the elaboration of a systems approach to the management of value co-creation and innovation. Additionally, the definition of the drivers for the harmonization of ICT-enabled co-creation can contribute to improving managers’ and scholars’ understanding of (1) the enablers of value co-creation and innovation; (2) the mechanisms leading to the outputs (mainly new knowledge) of exchanges to knowledge renewal and the continuous production of innovation in the economic and social system. The work advances a conceptual framework that identifies the main dimensions that managers should evaluate to encourage value co-creation as a key lever for innovation emergence. To reach this goal, the paper seeks to answer the following research questions: RQ1 (co-innovation): Which are the main enabling dimensions of value co-created innovation in service ecosystems? RQ2 (sustainable innovation): Which are the strategic drivers to foster the emergence of sustainable innovation at a micro-, meso-, and macro-level and manage value co-creation (at a meta-level)? The theoretical framework is assessed empirically through a case study that explores the main management strategies for value co-creation and sustainability realized by Palm an Italian company that is considered a best practice in the design, production, and delivery of wood pallets. The findings of the empirical research reveal that the optimization and strategic management of value co-creation can help organizations to gain sustainability in the long run: therefore, the transition from innovation (of technology, products, service) to sustainable innovation (economic and social development, renewal of culture and social rules, environmental eco-sustainability) can be hypothesized.